Some change has arrived already at city hall

Brockville's inaugural Community Awards of Recognition on Tuesday, Dec. 11, included a presentation to the local conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. From left are Karen O'Connor Wace, Coun. Matt Wren, Father Brian Price of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Laural Roobol and Steve Wace. Ronald Zajac/Brockville Recorder and Times/Postmedia NetworkRonald Zajac / Ronald Zajac/The Recorder and Times

He was not exactly the change candidate, and “change” is a relative term in politics, but the first two weeks of Jason Baker’s tenure as Brockville mayor have nonetheless brought visible change.

I do not refer to any substantive shift in policy, which rarely happens in the first two weeks of a new government anyway, but of procedural changes that will have varying levels of impact on the community.

Anyone walking into the main council chamber for Tuesday’s regular council meeting – the first one of the new term dedicated to regular business – will have noticed the room was packed with people, mainly recipients of the new Community Awards of Recognition, a new feature of this new council.

And the more observant will also have noticed that the four recent candidates in the municipal election who have since been made citizen appointees to council committees were also in the room.

(On that, more later.)

The community recognition awards are an interesting addition to council business. To be handed out at the final council meeting of each calendar year, they are an opportunity for individual council members to single out a citizen, a business, a festival or organization to be recognized for positive contributions to the city.

While it may sound like overkill coming about a month after the chamber of commerce’s awards of excellence, the idea does introduce the novel element of awards based on the personal inclinations of individual councillors.

On Tuesday, councillors did sincerely make this thing their own, and we saw some enlightening tributes.

Newcomer Cameron Wales, who credited the air cadets for helping shape his young life, shone the spotlight on the local cadet community, while veteran Coun. Leigh Bursey, whose advocacy was critical in getting Brockville Pride off the ground earlier this decade, highlighted that movement.

Another rookie councillor, Matt Wren, drew from his church community to honour the local St. Vincent de Paul conference, and by doing so gave its members a chance to educate local residents about the poverty in their midst.

And so we had people in uniform, an LGBTQ advocate and a member of the clergy in the same room, all showing their commitment to the same city.

If this kind of personal touch remains the central theme of the annual recognition program, it will stand as a reminder of the merits of a larger council, and perhaps an incentive for even more diversity around the table. And it will also educate us about things we did not know.

One only hopes that, with 36 different recipients in the space of a term, we don’t run out of honourees.

Baker’s decision to appoint citizen representatives to council’s three standing committees will arguably have a more substantive and longer-term impact.

Jessica Barabash, Tony Barnes, Cec Drake and Joy Sterritt were all on hand for Tuesday’s meeting, and we should look forward to their continued participation in civic affairs.

In my years covering this city’s councils, I’ve seen standing committees shift titles and responsibilities, and even one unsuccessful attempt (by Barnes, actually) to do away with them entirely, but this move to involve unelected citizens with different skill sets is the most significant change I’ve seen so far.

The degree to which this changes the course of civic affairs will depend on the contributions of these new appointees, and their ability to convince the elected councillors to vote with them.

For now, it’s just refreshing to see some tangible change taking place, and at a remarkable speed.

City hall reporter Ronald Zajac can be reached at Rzajac@postmedia.com.